Canada’s manufacturing sales drop 3.6% in February

Canada’s manufacturing sales dropped 3.6% to $71.5 billion in February, according to figures released Friday by Statistics Canada.

The figure came below the market expectations of a 2.7% decrease, while manufacturing sales rose 4.5% in January.

There were declines in 12 of the 21 manufacturing industries, led by the petroleum and coal products that fell 14.9% to $8.8 billion in February, marking the third-largest monthly decline on record.

They were followed by motor vehicles with a 12.3% decrease, ending three consecutive monthly increases.

“The monthly decline resulted from lower volumes and prices as sales in real terms decreased 2.4% in February and the Industrial Product Price Index edged down 0.8%,” Statistics Canada said in a statement.

Sales in the machinery industry, on the other hand, rose 3% to a record-high level of $4.6 billion in February — the fourth monthly increase in a row.